Scare away the darkness
by Fear0001
Summary: On the second night of the infirmary, his first panic attack happens, And then the 1st day he's let out, it happens again and he's issued right back into the infirmary. Nico seemed to be pretty adamant he would 'scare away the darkness' but as the darkness seemed to live inside him it looked like Will Solace would have to scare it away himself


At first Nico was lying was lying in the darkness facing the ceiling. His werewolf bites stung sending throbbing impulses up his arm and he sat up reaching out for a glass of water. Halfway there, his arm froze. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. His heartbeat sped up and at first Nico thought that it was the pain but the throbbing had almost diminished. Images began to spin in his head. He remembered the darkness at Tartarus, the feeling of inability to breathe. The fear and terror. Breath clouding the glass and the walls closing in. He remembered fading. The panicking sensation of fading into the shadows, into darkness.

A breath hitched in his throat as the darkness loomed over him. Nico's eyes dilated in fear, as his lungs seemed to contract and close. The dark. Nico feared the darkness, of fading into oblivion. He sat up and gasped, struggling to breathe as the walls closed in. It was like Tartarus, all over again. He took in more breathes. Vaguely, he could hear a heart monitor, screaming beside him, buzzing dizzyingly in his head. He stood up and staggered, as the room tilted. The buzz in his head was louder and he tried to breathe again, but instead, it came out as a frenzied cry

Fading…

Nico raised his hands, only to see them, transparent and smoky. He screamed and stumbled back into a table. Nico heard a sound of breaking glass on the floor as he gulped a breath. He fell to his knees as shards of glass cut his skin.

Fading…

He screamed louder as he struggled to breathe. He heard a door bang open and the sound of hurried footsteps. He heard his curtains being ripped apart and hurried voices whispering

"What's wrong with him?"

"Can't tell"

"Do you think it's serious? Look I think I see blood"

"I'm not sure, maybe we should call Will."

Nico's breath shuddered as he glanced up, breathing, slowly and with difficulty, "Don't call Will." He muttered. His breathing was coming out short and rapid, and sometimes like sobs .He couldn't breathe, someone bent over him "I don't know what to do!" she cried. "Please call someone!" Nico swallowed hard "Don't call Will!" He repeated, louder. He tried to stand up and felt blood soak his jeans. "Oh Gods" said the same voice. "I'm going." Nico gritted his teeth. "Don't call Will!" he exclaimed. And suddenly, all his breath rushed back into him like molten lava, crushing him to the ground. The heart monitors beeps became a line of screeches. "I'm going!" The girl screamed. "DON'T CALL WILL!" screamed Nico, as loud as he could but the sound of footsteps indicated that no one had listened. Nico lay, helpless on the ground. The sound of the wail deafening him, as the wall inched closer as his lungs grew useless and heavy in his chest, and his body slowly evaporated into no substance at all. He would be dead before his breath left his lips.

But then Nico felt himself being lifted onto the bed. Maybe he was already dead. He tried to breathe again, but it came out as a strangled gasp. He felt a strong arm around his shoulder and heard Will Solace's voice in his hear. "Put your hand over my heart," He instructed softly "And every time I breathe, you breathe." Nico frowned slightly. He could still hear the heart monitor in the distance, beeping frantically. It was getting on his nerves. Tentatively, he touched Will's chest and leaned into his shoulder. Will breathed, and Nico did the same, until the beeping and wailing in the distance stopped, the buzzing in his head stopped, and his vision cleared. He was aware of the aching pain where the glass had sliced into his skin. Somehow, he had managed to rip open his stitches, and his hair was matted to his face with sweat. He leaned back and stared at Will, who had deep lines of worry etched on his face.

"What happened?" Asked Nico, quietly. Will took a while to respond. "I'm not sure." He said at last, rubbing the back of his neck. "And I'm sorry that Austin and Kayla didn't help you. They just didn't want to hurt you." Nico nodded. Suddenly, the door of the infirmary banged open and Jason and Percy came rushing in. "Nico!" Jason explained "Bro!" We just heard about your freak out and we came as soon as we could and…"

Jason and Percy both stopped walking and stared at them. Nico realized that Will still had his arm around him, and he was leaning into Will's shoulder with his hand on his chest. Quickly, he moved backing and dropped his hand "Um…Are you two busy?" Asked Percy, his lips curling up with amusement. "Not at all" Said Will smoothly "I was just helping Nico to breathe and get his heart rate back to normal" "Aah" Jason nodded. He cleared his throat. "So… me and Percy, we really have to go on that double date with Piper and Annabeth." Percy frowned "We do?" Jason nudged him in the ribs. "Ow! I mean we do!" Jason nodded. "So… Nico I'll leave you and Will together in aaalll this space. Alone. He winked, and Nico face palmed really hard as the door shut. Even Will was trying not to laugh.

"I'm never going to live this down!" he moaned. Will laughed and stood up. "I'm going to inject some sedatives in you, in case that happens again." He warned. Nico swallowed and nodded. After he had done that, Will looked at Nico. "Do you want me to leave the light on?" He asked. Nico paused for a moment and shook his head. "Are you sure?" "Yes I want to learn to scare away the darkness." Will nodded, but Nico wished that he could look as confident. Will flicked the light shut and closed the door behind him, and the darkness filled him up again.


End file.
